Latest news with #LGBTI
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- General
- The Guardian
Queensland's puberty blockers review panel criticised for lacking gender experts and trans lived experience
Transgender advocates have criticised the panel assembled to conduct the Queensland government's review of puberty blockers for lacking experts in gender affirming care and people with lived experience of trans healthcare. The state government opened its independent review of stage 1 and stage 2 hormone therapies in Queensland's public paediatric gender services to public submissions last week, but kept the panel conducting the review secret. The seven members were made public on Wednesday. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The panel includes three medical specialists; psychiatrists Ruth Vine and Beth Kotze, and endocrinologist Bruce Robinson. It also includes academics Eleanor Milligan, Lisa Brophy, Malcolm Smith, and a former judge, Kerry O'Brien. The Australian Professional Association for Trans Health CEO, Eloise Brook, criticised the panel's composition, saying: 'Imagine this was a review of cardiac services and there were no cardiologists on the review panel?' Brook said that even though the health professionals were distinguished in their fields, none were experts in providing healthcare for trans children. Without such expertise, she said, the panel wasn't 'credible'. The LGBTI Legal Service president, Ren Shike, said the 'panel appears to lack anyone with lived experience regarding trans healthcare either as a patient or practitioner'. 'While we welcome the academic expertise on the panel, including the perspectives of people with lived experience when considering their healthcare is vitally important,' Shike said. 'Just as we would not find it acceptable to have a review of women's healthcare without a single woman on the panel, there should not be a review of trans healthcare without a transgender person on the panel.' Jackie Turner, the director of Trans Justice Project and a proud trans woman, said: 'Trans people deserve to be involved in the decisions that affect their lives, rights, and health care.' 'Without including relevant clinical experts and trans people themselves, this 'review' is nothing more than a show trial on the future of trans health care,' she said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion A spokesperson for Queensland Health said the community could be assured the review panel would approach its work in a 'considered and evidence-based manner'. 'The panel was convened in accordance with the review's Terms of Reference and its members were chosen based on their specialist expertise,' they said. 'The Terms of Reference also notes that additional reviewers may be appointed if necessary. 'Any members of the public or within the health system are welcome to contribute to the review by participating in the current consultation process. 'Reviewers are appointed primarily on their ability to conduct comprehensive investigations and deliver a report that is informed by facts and evidence.' The state government has paused any new patients under 18 accessing paediatric gender therapies through the public system until the government considers the review's outcome. Kids already on a treatment plan – nearly 600 in total – can still access the services. Children who are experiencing gender dysphoria but are unable to begin hormone therapy will still be able to access psychiatric and psychological support. The review is due to be completed by 30 November.
The Herald Scotland
8 hours ago
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Letting libraries crumble is attacking the vulnerable
Libraries have always been more than shelves and silence. They're vital spaces for the whole community and one of the few places where you're not expected to buy a coffee just to sit down. In today's digital world, they're a lifeline for those who can't afford broadband or don't have access to a printer. We talk about levelling up, tackling isolation, improving literacy, supporting mental health – libraries do all of that and more with far too little credit. It's not just short-sighted to let them crumble; it's attacking the vulnerable. If we're serious about building a fairer, more equal Scotland, we need to stop treating libraries like optional extras. They are – and always have been – lifelines. Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, Tayport. Read more letters Definition of a hate crime To be a hate crime in Scotland, something must first be a crime. Then, for any crime, if it is proven in court that the motive was prejudice on grounds such as race, religion or sexual orientation, the crime is recorded as a hate crime. The motive can then be taken into account by the sheriff in deciding an appropriate sentence. That's been the law for 15 years and more. Tearing down the street decorations for a parade is likely to be the crime of vandalism. In the case of the Arran Pride march ("A hate crime on Arran? No, just a sign of where we are", Mark Smith, The Herald, June 2), the fact that it was an LGBTI+ event and was targeted in that way suggests that it may in fact have been a prejudice-motivated crime. In that case it's right that the police look into that. Whether it ends up recorded as a crime, and potentially prejudice-motivated, depends on what evidence there is. Mark Smith suggests that the perpetrator may have been a gay person who doesn't like the rainbow flag. Hypothetical, dare I say imaginary, based only on his own views about trans people it seems, and frankly a great example of victim-blaming. Disliking what a flag represents suggests more than a dislike of the colours or design, it suggests disliking the inclusion of those that the flag represents – the wide and diverse LGB+ community alongside the people of colour who founded the LGBTI+ movement, those lost within the AIDS crisis and of course, trans people. It's hardly surprising that the police might consider this flag being torn down to have been motivated by prejudice and hate. The Equality Network's Scottish Trans team were at Arran Pride, and we're happy to report that despite the vandalism the night before, everyone had a really great time with locals – celebrating everyone's diversity and calling for a better Scotland for everyone. Rebecca Don Kennedy, CEO, Equality Network, Edinburgh. Glasgow's transport shame I fully agree with Stuart Neville (Letters, June 3) who comments on the fact that Subway travel in Glasgow is a difficult and confusing experience if you are not familiar with all the stations on its circular route, due mainly to the lack of any visual indication of which station the train is approaching, in spite of over £28 million spent on its upgrade. As Mr Neville says there are the occasional spoken announcements, some of which are understandable and some not. I am also somewhat puzzled as to why after this lengthy and expensive revamp the service frequency is less than in the days of the previous "Clockwork Orange" system. Another obvious drawback is the fact that the service stops operating at 6pm on a Sunday, something that was previously blamed on the need for extra maintenance to keep ageing rolling stock and infrastructure working. Sadly the Subway seems to be like the rest of our city's disjointed and expensive public transport in that passengers come, by some distance, a poor second to what suits the various operators in Glasgow. The city centre is no longer the thriving and busy place it once was as retail, hospitality, theatres and music venues suffer from the lack of footfall. Surely it is obvious that easy-to-use and affordable public transport is a must to help Glasgow get back to being the city it once was. William Gold, Glasgow. A train on the revamped Glasgow Underground (Image: SPT) Educating Nigel AJ Clarence (Letters, June 2) remarks on Nigel Farage's likeness to one Joe E Brown. As one of your older readers, I have always thought Mr Farage unnervingly like 1950s ventriloquist dummy Archie Andrews, in oh so many ways. Rosemary Parker, Troon. Memories of Canada scheme In the "100 years ago" section today (The Herald, June 3) mention is made of a scheme for young boys to go to Canada. My mother's brother was sent to Canada aged 16 with £2 in his pocket in 1929 under this scheme. It was run by the British Immigration and Colonisation Association of Canada (BICA). It would be considered very controversial nowadays as its slogan was "Keep Canada British". They had an office in Bath Street, Glasgow. Boys aged 14 to 18 were recruited to work as farm hands for 10 shillings a week with full board. Boys who went out under this scheme and who saved £100 by the age of 21 would receive a loan of £100 from the Canadian Government to set up their own farm. My uncle returned to Glasgow in 1931 having completed his first three years. He returned under the scheme in late 1931. However the coldest weather on record hit East Ontario in late December 1933 and my grandmother paid for his return home. He spoke about his time in Canada often. It was not easy for many of the young farm labourers. Some were badly treated and lived in wooden shacks. There was very little supervision of essentially a fairly wild bunch of teenage lads from modest backgrounds. He was aware of one lad who had not been paid, was molested by the farmer, and stole food. Then he found himself in prison and was deported. However my relative struck lucky and was well treated. Eric Flack, Glasgow.
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Korea Herald
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
[Vitit Muntarbhorn] Sex and gender rights in a plural world
On the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (May 17), UN human rights experts recently called for countries to work with LGBTI communities and not to police them. This was an apt message which has to resonate at the national and local levels, especially when the world is witnessing regression in regard to policies on diversity, equity and inclusion. Thailand can be proud of the fact that the country is generally liberal on these issues, although there is no room for complacency. The most obvious progress is the implementation of the right of all persons (from 18 years of age), irrespective of sex or gender, to marry consensually and to shift away from the binary approach of 'man/woman equals husband/wife.' This is work in progress, as there are some 50 other laws awaiting reform to underline equality and non-discrimination for all. One of the urgent next steps to pluralize actions is to pass a law to recognize a person's gender identity which can be different from the sex assigned at birth. A key difficulty is the language itself. The word 'sex' in this context means the biological sex attributed to a person at the time of birth. However, 'gender' is different, as it reflects how a person feels and how society interlinks with the person which can differ from the biological sex. The correct translation of 'sex' is 'phet' in Thai, while the word 'gender' should be translated as 'phet sapap' or 'phet pawa.' There is still much confusion between these terms in official documents, including in the medical sector. This is especially important for transgender people who wish to affirm their gender and change identification, passport and other documents to reflect their self-determination. At present, regrettably transgender men (individually born a woman but self-identifying as a man) and transgender women (individually born a man but self-identifying as a woman) are unable to change their identity on such documents and are disadvantaged accordingly. This is even where they have had surgery to alter their physique to reflect that self-identification. On another front, there is the issue of intersex persons, namely persons born with particular sex characteristics, such as with both male and female organs. This group is particularly victimized by coerced surgery from a young age, superimposed by others choosing the (imputed) sex for the intersex child. This causes immense harm physically and psychologically, as the child may grow up to self-identify as having a different sex or gender from that resulting from the coerced surgery. Later in 2025, the UN Human Right Council will host a special session to discuss the intersex issue directly for the first time. Currently, there are various draft laws to address both the issue of transgender persons and intersex persons in Thailand's Parliament. There are some constructive elements emanating from them. First, on the transgender issue, under the draft, a person has the right to affirm the person's gender without coerced surgery. Second, there is no need for a psychological test for the person to affirm the preferred gender. Third, the health-and-rights oriented approach should enable transgender persons to access medical care, such as hormone treatment, and data protection. LGBTI persons should be able to offer blood donations. Fourth, gender markers will no longer be binary (namely: male, female), but there will be a third category of 'other' gender. With regard to intersex persons, the draft stipulates that coerced surgery should not take place at a young age. Families should wait till the person grows up to decide whether or not to have the surgery and let the person decide on the sex or gender accordingly. On the birth certificate, the sex of the person should be stated as 'intersex.' Not everything is settled in the draft, however. A difficult issue is the age of the person for affirming the gender and the age of the person for deciding when and if to have the surgery voluntarily. There is still disagreement internationally on the issue. The draft in Thailand uses 15 as the minimum age for affirming a person's identity. Thus, a person would be able to ask for a change of the gender on identification documents from the age of 15, while those under 15 need parental consent to do so. On the intersex issue, a person should be able to decide whether to affirm that person's sex or gender from the age of 15, and surgery is subject to the person's consent. All this will depend very much on political leadership to press for passage of the law. What about the vagaries of international trends? Should the recent judgement of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom that 'woman' means a biological woman and not a transgender woman, affect Thailand's approach to sex and gender? That judgement should be viewed in context. First, that Court was interpreting British law on the issue, namely the Equality Act (2010). That law offers protection from discrimination relating to a variety of features, including 'sex,' 'gender reassignment' and 'sexual orientation.' The court was interlinking the word 'woman' with the term 'sex'; in other words, woman as a biological feature. Transgender people will still be protected as a group under the notion of 'gender reassignment.' However, internationally, the term 'gender affirmation' is now preferred to uphold the self-identification or self-determination of persons in this group. Moreover, the United Kingdom has a separate law — the Gender Recognition Act (2004) — on the issue of transgender people who wish to change their identity on the basis of gender dysphoria. However, there is a pathological and ambivalent tone behind that classification. The international trend now is to avoid classifying transgender people as having gender dysphoria and to advocate that the issue should be dealt with as part of access to health care and 'sexual health.' Whatever the state of the law here, there or anywhere, there can be no substitute for education and socialization involving the community, educational institutions, families, politicians and general public to treat others with empathy, irrespective of sex or gender. There can be no room for hate crimes. The heart and soul of the world is the plurality of its peoples sharing peacefully and respectfully a caring and concerted destiny. Vitit Muntarbhorn is a professor emeritus at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. He was formerly the UN Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. The views expressed here are the writer's own. — Ed.
Euronews
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
LGBTQ+ rights: These are the most and least progressive EU countries
Malta, Belgium, Iceland, Denmark and Spain are the top five countries in this year's LGBTQ+ rights ranking, according to this year's ILGA-Europe's Rainbow Map. Malta has been at the top of the ranking for the last decade, with a score of 88,83%. With 85 points, Belgium jumped to second place after adopting policies tackling hatred based on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics. Despite Belgium jumping to second place in the index over Iceland, the latest figures from Belgium's Centre for Equal Opportunities Unia and the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men reported "worrying" cases of violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. Unia reported 136 cases related to sexual orientation. More than a third of these cases involved assaults with assault and battery, and a similar proportion of serious cases of harassment. These attacks are often committed by young men, sometimes in groups, and especially against other men. ILGA-Europe's Rainbow Map scores countries in seven categories: equality and non-discrimination, family, hate crime and hate speech, legal gender recognition, intersex bodily integrity, civil society space and asylum. Austria, Latvia, Germany, Czechia and Poland also recorded the biggest jumps in their rankings. Austria and Latvia rose four places, while Germany, Czechia, and Poland climbed three. The EU's average score is 51.13%, while Europe's is 41.85%. In 2025, some countries across Europe saw a rollback in LGBTQ+ rights. Romania has been at the end of the EU ranking with a score of just 19%, followed by Poland and Bulgaria, both with 21%. "Centre and far-right actors in the EU are targeting NGO funding to weaken organisations that defend rights, while at the national level, we are seeing laws introduced that do not address any genuine societal need but are designed purely to marginalise," said ILGA-Europe's Advocacy Director, Katrin Hugendubel. The United Kingdom also dropped six places to 22nd. That drop was partially blamed on a Supreme Court decision to redefine the legal understanding of "woman" strictly as "biological sex," impacting the recognition and rights of transgender individuals. Hungary dropped seven places after the first Pride march ban in the EU, criminalising participation and organisation of such events. Attending a banned event would carry fines up to 200,000 Hungarian forints (€503), which the state must forward to "child protection," according to the text of the law. "Similar moves in the UK, Hungary, Georgia and beyond signal not just isolated regressions, but a coordinated global backlash aimed at erasing LGBTI rights, cynically framed as the defence of tradition or public stability, but in reality designed to entrench discrimination and suppress dissent," said Hugendubel.
Euronews
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Russia outlaws Amnesty International amid ongoing crackdown on dissent
Russian authorities have banned Amnesty International, making involvement with the international human rights group illegal, the Russian Prosecutor General's office said on Monday. Branded an 'undesirable organisation' – a designation that criminalises involvement or support of such groups — the international NGO is the latest target of the Kremlin's crackdown on dissent. The law has been widely criticised by human rights advocates. A number of journalists, activists and others who have spoken out against the Kremlin have been imprisoned or banned from operating in the country since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The label means that Amnesty International must cease its work in Russia. Anyone cooperating with or supporting the organisation, even by sharing a report on social media, risks prosecution. Euronews contacted Amnesty International for comment. More than 200 organisations, ranging from independent news outlets to think tanks and anti-corruption groups have been slapped with the 'undesirable organisation' designation. Individuals accused of having links to banned organisations face severe repression: a Russian court last month sentenced four journalists to five-and-a-half years in prison after convicting them on extremism charges, over allegations they worked for an anti-corruption group founded by the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. In January, three lawyers who had previously represented Navalny were also sentenced to prison. Their charges – allegations of involvement with extremist groups – were linked to Navalny's organisations, which Russian authorities banned in 2021. In its statement, the Russian Prosecutor General's office accused Amnesty International of running 'Russophobic projects" and activities aimed at Russia's 'political and economic isolation'. It also accused it of supporting "extremist organisations and financing the activities of foreign agents'. This development also comes against the backdrop of the Kremlin's further expansion of its "foreign agent" label, a law introduced in 2012 and expanded upon in 2022. In April, President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law that broadened the criteria for designating individuals and groups as such to include those connected to foreign government agencies and international associations that Russia is not a member of. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Amnesty International has released reports accusing Moscow of crimes against humanity and has spoken out against the Kremlin's crackdown on dissent. The international human rights organisation last week condemned a five-year prison sentence handed to Russian civil society activist Grigory Melkonyants as a 'brazen and politically motivated clampdown on peaceful activism'. It also condemned the state's crackdown on book publishers over alleged 'LGBTI propaganda' last week. 'This shameless heavy-handed use of state apparatus against literature is as absurd as it is terrifying,' said Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International's Russia director. She called for the release of the publishing professionals, the charges against them to be dropped, and 'the ongoing persecution of LGBTI people, organisations and initiatives in Russia must be brought to an end'. Amnesty International was founded in 1961, and carries out research and campaigns against human rights abuses globally. Its work centres on issues including political repression and torture, and it advocates for the release of those it considers unjustly imprisoned.
